


it's a long way to alpha centauri

by GodOfLaundryBaskets



Category: Star Wars (Marvel Comics), Star Wars: Doctor Aphra (Comics)
Genre: Gen, Road Trips, Sabacc, Vader is terrifying, aphra loves this giant feral man, playing cards to pass the time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-15
Updated: 2015-11-15
Packaged: 2019-11-24 04:17:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18161372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GodOfLaundryBaskets/pseuds/GodOfLaundryBaskets
Summary: "So," she began while tapping on the datapad screen. She felt Vader's attention snap to her and there would never be any doubt of when he was paying attention to you or not. "We're going to be here a while yet. Do you play any cards?"





	it's a long way to alpha centauri

Aphra crossed her arms and glared at Lord Vader from across the small ship. He was sitting there ignoring her and... meditating, or something. With his life support it was hard to tell _what_ exactly he was doing other than ignoring her. (She suspected he was sulking but she also had just enough self-preservation to not say _that_ out loud. Not that she had much of that. Or else she probably wouldn't have tried to break into her doctorate teacher's office to "borrow" that Rhodian text that lead her to her first job. Her professor ended up believing the rather absurd set of coincidences that "led" her to find the office unlocked and she had made out with the text... But she probably could have waited until she had graduated to actually break in.) 

She wondered why he settled on such a bulky life support system; there were better out there and the Emperor's favorite probably had his pick of the lot. She itched to poke at some of the cybernetics. Prosthetics and life support wasn't her specialty but she had enough experience with droids that she should be able to fix **something** in there. Instead, she filled her hands with rechecking her decoding once again. It was just another impulsive idea that she tried to filter out.

Not that her mother thought she was capable of that, but that was why she still wasn't taking her mother's call after what had happened last time. Her mother, of course, would have a meltdown if she even knew half of what Aphra got up to let alone that she had _Lord Vader_ in her spaceship, _The Arc Angel_ , or that he commissioned her (for a given value of commission -- she was alive anyways which was pretty valuable to her even if it didn't line her pockets or pay for the ship's fuel) to help him with... whatever. Currently the plan was Geonosis. 

However much Lord Vader was prone to sulking (a description she never thought she would ascribe to tall imposing man she had seen on the holovids but life was always a constant surprised filled with re-evaluations), she was growing fond of him. Like one would grow fond of a rabid gundark - true - but she always had a soft spot for dangerous beings. Working "archaeology" on the Outer Rim, she got her fair share of danger but this was by far the most exciting thing to have happened yet. She was half tempted to write about it to the holonet but with the Empire's monitoring... that might not be a good idea. Plus, it wasn't like anyone would believe her.

"So," she began while tapping on the datapad screen. She felt Vader's attention snap to her and there would never be any doubt of when he was paying attention to you or not. "We're going to be here a while yet. Do you play any cards?"

His silence was practically palpable. Or maybe that was the Force. There really wasn't any literature on the Force even if you were specialized which was strongly discouraged... Mostly by those scholars suddenly disappearing in the time since the Empire had risen. That wasn't her specialty obviously, but it had peaked her interest a couple of times so that she probably knew more than your average citizen of the galaxy, not that she was bragging about that since knowledge like that tended to get you dead fast. It wasn't like the Empire was really trying to hush the disappearances up either and rumors spread fast both in the academic world and in her more... recreations circles.

It would definitely be the smarter thing to let him sulk in silence but there was no way that she was going to be able to stand that for long. She had already broken and... the chances were actually pretty high that he'd just kill her but that was already true so might as well live recklessly. 

"Come on," she spun her chair around facing Vader. He stood there, stiff, impassive and unreadable as always. "I am incredibly bored, we have another three days in hyperspace before we get there, and I'm sure we would both prefer if I don't want to annoy you into killing me early. Think of how inconvenient it would be there to get to Geonosis with me already dead."

There was the silence for a moment as she stared down Vader which felt very much staring down some of the droids that she had encountered in the past. When there was no reaction, she actually managed to keep her groan internal this time as she walked out of the cockpit alone. It wasn't like _she_ was going to stop Vader if he wanted to do anything there even if she would be reluctant to leave anyone else alone there, which he apparently didn't even need hands to mess with her ship. Normally, she would just toss a bad rom-com on the holovid screen and poke around on the holonet for some interesting tidbits. She might grab some snacks to pass the time until arrival, but somehow she couldn't quite bring herself to with Vader there watching her. 

As soon as she passed Vader, though, she heard the whir of cybernetics and she smiled. Her steps grew a little lighter as made her way to the kitchen, snagging her deck for sabacc out of her bunk. This was progress. She hadn't met a person or droid yet who didn't know how to play or couldn't learn.

Her ship really wasn't made for more than one person and some droids to be hanging out inside of it, but she lead the way to the tiny kitchen. The murder twins were doing their own thing in the cargo bay. She was fairly confident that they any no-good they were up to would be directed outwards.

Stopping in the kitchen she suddenly reconsidered her idea because looking at the space, there was barely enough room to squeeze past the table and Vader was definitely not going to be able to loom comfortable here like he had been in the cockpit. It was really more spacious over there and where she spent most of her time working on various projects. She pivoted on her heel, nearly running into Vader who was _right_ behind her. She skipped back a step and nearly ran into the table but regained her balance handily enough.

"Uh, actually maybe we should just stick to--"

Vader brushed past her glaring over the small kitchen like it personally offended him. His cloak flared out as he settled into a seat and Aphra used every ounce of willpower and self-control that she had ever learned to suppress the nervous giggle that wanted to bubble out. He was about half a size too big for the table and the only reason he didn't look lost and awkward sitting there was because he was _Lord Vader_ and she figured it was actually physically impossible for him to look that way.

"Or, you could come in and sit down. That's good too." _Breath_ she reminded herself. _He might bite, but you should see it coming._ "So, I have sabacc if you are up for playing that or - well - I guess you probably won't be eating anything I could scrounge up. I'm usually up for a game of Have-You-Ever and while I'm an open book for you I have a suspicion that you might get a little irritated with free conversation."

"Silence," Vader commanded. 

His breathing was harsh in the sudden quiet and Aphra managed to contain herself for a whole 10 seconds before she said, "Do you have a length of time you need me quite? Because I can give you the cockpit to yourself for a bit. Or the kitchen, I just think that you might be a little more comfortable in the cockpit since... Y'know..."

She stood there for a moment, her hand on her hip, waiting for any reaction. When he continued to keep his peace, she grabbed a drink from the fridge and settled down on the other side of the table and started shuffling the deck. She breathed in. She breathed out. She counted to five slowly in her head before taking her next breath. She set the deck on the table and looked up hopefully at Vader feeling calmer and more centered. 

That was always the problem when she wasn't on a job. At least there, you had calculable risks that you planned for and didn't sneak up on you. When you worked with a team, you could depend on them to have your back (or not as was more likely the case - but you could usually depend on them having _their own_ back) and still there was a plan. Here, just trying to kill time, her mind tended to run ahead of itself and wrap itself into knots trying to second guess every choice she made.

Vader glared at her and the deck making no move to reach for the deck. She was about to give up and deal herself out a solitaire variant she had picked up on Florrum when she was lying low for a few weeks, when the deck lifted itself into the air and split itself. She grinned and grabbed the deck before it could even hit the table. 

She didn't really even care if she won or lost, though she didn't consider herself a _bad_ sabacc player. But this was _Lord Vader_ , something she somehow kept needing to remind herself of. This was going to be, by far, the most interesting game she had ever played. He must be in a good mood. And wasn't that surreal. She was going to play cards with _Lord Vader_. Her mother was never going to believe this. _No one_ she knew was going to believe this. 

Maybe if he won a few rounds she'd be able to convince him to let her ask a few questions about the Force... Maybe if he won a lot of rounds...


End file.
